


no visions of the future (so lost and alone)

by Slytherwitch



Series: Daughter of Zeus, Piper McLean [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Cigarettes, F/M, Mentions of Character Death, Rarepair, Zeus!Piper, but not warranting the warning, pjo godswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22284724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slytherwitch/pseuds/Slytherwitch
Summary: Piper McLean can't stand camp anymore. Even though she leaves, she doesn't know what to do about her new found freedom.
Relationships: Piper McLean & Artemis, Piper McLean/Lee Fletcher
Series: Daughter of Zeus, Piper McLean [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151564
Kudos: 10





	no visions of the future (so lost and alone)

no visions of the future (so lost and alone)

Piper McLean packs a bag. It’s a small duffle bag, a blueish grey like the skies at a storm, like the statue of Zeus looking at her, like the seaside cliffs. The bag is small, but it holds all that she needs: clothes, shoes, ambrosia, nectar, weapons, deodorant. A demigod’s survival tools are all there. 

She sits on her bed, rubbing the outside of a photo album. It’s pale yellow, his favorite color. She can’t bring herself to open it, to put it in the bag, to look at it. It’s mostly pictures of herself, Lee was an excellent photographer. Occasionally she’d get a blurry picture of him. The album is mostly her and that’s what hurts the most. Lee wasn’t as well known. He was just Piper McLean’s boyfriend, the boyfriend to Zeus daughter; occasionally he’d be recognized for being Apollo’s cabin head, but nobody looked at him like they looked at her. 

Piper slides the photo album underneath the bunk, pushing it completely against the wall so nobody can see it. She couldn't bring it with her but she couldn’t bare throwing it away. Every happy memory at camp is encased in that book and is all because of Lee Fletcher.

The few tears that were falling down her face are wiped off. She gets a good look around the Zeus Cabin. It smothers her. The tower of Zeus towers over her. The floor shines too bright. The ceiling looks endlessly above her. The room makes her feel small.

Piper bitterly laughs. She zips up the bag and opens the door. It’s dinnertime, dusk and the war is done. She holds her wallet and phone in her hand. Nobody will be outside of camp, it’s her chance to leave.

Walking towards the camp’s border she turns her back to the exit to see the place she needs to leave. She’s expected to be a certain way and do certain things and it's all too much.

Piper turns around and steps outside. She leaves the safety and certainty of camp. She’s thinking of heading home, but knows that’s impossible. Her dad thinks she’s at boarding school and is proud of her for not getting kicked out from this place.

She passes Thalia’s old tree as she pulls out a cigarette and a lighter. Lighting it, she knows that Lee and her father would be disappointed but neither of them are in her life anymore so she doesn’t care.

Piper considers making a pitstop at the Jackson place, but doesn’t know the address nor if would allow her to crash there for a day or two. Making the trek into Manhattan, she starts walking. She wants to get close to a hotel or an abandoned home or a car before it’s nighttime.

The stars start to peer in the sky. She mutters a quick prayer to Artemis, homing she looks over her for the night. Piper isn’t oblivious to the dangers her time brings her, but she doesn’t have many options. She can’t go back to camp and she’s nowhere near town. She’s jogging away, but her bag weighs her down and the darker it gets the more she worries; the more she worries the more determined she gets. 

She has to get away from Camp Half-Blood. She can’t stay in that cabin, knowing that she is only looked as the daughter of Zeus. The girl who Rachel’s prophecy is most likely about. She has heard it and after this war, she doesn’t want to deal with quests, she doesn’t want to deal with camp, she doesn’t want to deal with being a demigod.

She sees headlights approaching her. They are as bright as the moon is in the sky. The car is silver and there is a twelve year old at the wheel. It’s her sister, Artemis.

“Need a ride, sis?” The window is rolled down and she’s illegally parked on a road. Not to mention she looks like she’s twelve and the whole thing looks sketchy.

Piper opens the passenger’s door. A set of dice are hanging from the mirror and stars are on the inside of the car. She doesn’t comment on either of these features. Instead, she replies, “You got my prayer.”

“Of course I did. I am the protector of girls after all.” Artemis takes the car into the air and Piper realizes that this is her chariot, or at least what it looks like now. Artemis continues, “I can’t send you anywhere until after my shift. I have to bring the moon across the sky for every timezone and then bring it back down.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It’s work.” Artemis responds, “Speaking of sleep, try to get some shut eye, I’ll take you wherever you want to go when the night is over.”

“Thank you, Artemis.”

She laughs it off whilst turning down the alternative music. Daughters of Zeus have to look out for each other.

“Hey, not to pry or anything, but why are you running away from camp?” Artemis asks, “Isn’t it supposed to be every demigod’s dream?”

“I一” Piper gets air caught in her throat. She’s unable to answer her. PIper doesn’t want to talk about camp. She doesn’t want to talk about Lee Fletcher. SHe just wants to put everything behind her.

“Don’t worry about it.”

A couple of minutes go by before she answers, “I need to move on, just get away from everything for a bit.”

“The Hunters are desperately looking for new members.” Artemis offers, “Even if it is just for a little while. Kronos took out most of out girls.”

“That’s a gracious offer, Artemis.” Piper replies, “I don’t really know what I’m going to do.”

“Maybe talk to Thalia.”

Piper does not want to speak to Thalia. The first and only conversation was bad enough.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Do some thinking. Maybe you want to go to school. Or be with your mortal parent.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Artemis laughs, its weak and nervous. She doesn’t know what to do with a lost soul, “I’ll quit pestering you. We’ll be landing in Hawaii. That’s where I take my break before I bring down the moon.”

“Alright.” Piper closes her eyes. She just wants the day to start already.


End file.
